Executive Summary/Highlights

• On the heels of a slow-down in the second half of 2022, global dealmaking levels decreased in Q1 2023 compared to both Q4 2022 and Q1 2022 and ended with the lowest quarterly volume in recent memory.
• Yet, there are signs that the first quarter may represent an inflection point, as the first part of Q2 2023 has the sense of a turnaround: inflation is subsiding, there are signs of relief from monetary tightening, and earnings expectations have stabilized.
• Global M&A volume was US$578 billion in Q1 2023, a 25% decrease from Q4.
• Despite the overall decline in M&A volume, several mega deals were announced in Q1 2023, including Pfizer’s US$42 billion acquisition of Seagen, Japan Industrial Partners’ US$16 billion acquisition of Toshiba, and Silver Lake and CPP Investments’ US$12 billion acquisition of Qualtrics.
• As in Q4 2022, the Healthcare sector led all other major industry sectors in total deal volume in Q1 2023, accounting for 17% of aggregate global M&A volume.  In addition to Pfizer’s US$42 billion acquisition of Seagen, CVS Health’s US$11 billion acquisition of Oak Street Health was among the quarter’s largest deals.
• Cross-border M&A volume was US$180 billion in Q1 2023, a decrease of 19% from Q4 2022, 47% down compared to Q1 2022, and also 47% less than the average cross-border M&A deal volume over the first quarters of the prior 10 years.  Cross-border transactions represented 31% of global M&A volume in Q1 2023, slightly below the proportion over the last ten years (35%).  Three of the 10 largest deals of Q1 2023 were cross-border.
• U.S. M&A volume accounted for US$273 billion of global M&A volume in Q1 2023, representing just over 47% of global M&A volume, its highest share of global M&A volume since Q1 2022 (51%) and above both its 44% share of global M&A volume in Q4 2022 and over the last 10 years.

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